Cursor: Setup & Core Features
From the course Cursor & AI-Native Code Editors
Let's get Cursor set up and understand its three core AI features: Tab completion, Cmd+K, and Chat.
Installation
Download Cursor from cursor.com. It's available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Since it's built on VS Code, you can import all your VS Code extensions, themes, and keybindings during setup.
Pricing
- Free (Hobby) — 2,000 completions + 50 premium requests/month. Good for trying it out.
- Pro ($20/month) — Unlimited completions + 500 premium requests/month. What most developers use.
- Business ($40/user/month) — Team features, admin controls, privacy mode.
Tab Completion
Cursor's Tab completion goes far beyond single-line suggestions. It can:
- Complete multi-line code blocks
- Predict your next edit based on your recent changes
- Suggest changes across the current function
- Auto-complete imports, types, and boilerplate
Just keep coding and press Tab when you see a suggestion you like. Press Escape to dismiss. The AI learns from your patterns in the current session.
Cmd+K (Inline Edits)
Select code and press Cmd+K (Ctrl+K on Windows/Linux) to describe what you want changed:
- Select a function → "Add error handling and input validation"
- Select a component → "Make this responsive with a mobile layout"
- Select a test → "Add edge cases for null and undefined inputs"
- Select nothing → "Create a utility function that formats dates as relative time"
The AI generates a diff showing exactly what will change. Review it and accept or reject.
Chat (Cmd+L)
Press Cmd+L to open the chat panel. Unlike ChatGPT, Cursor's chat understands your codebase:
- "How does authentication work in this project?"
- "Where is the user model defined?"
- "What would break if I changed the database schema?"
- "Explain what this regex does"
You can reference specific files, functions, or documentation using the @ symbol.
The @ Symbol — Cursor's Context System
@ is how you give Cursor context:
- @filename — Reference a specific file
- @folder — Reference an entire directory
- @codebase — Search the full codebase for relevant context
- @docs — Reference documentation (built-in or custom)
- @web — Search the web for current information
- @git — Reference git history and diffs
Key Takeaways
- •Cursor imports VS Code extensions and settings — easy migration
- •Tab completion suggests multi-line edits, not just single lines
- •Cmd+K for inline edits: select code, describe changes, review diff
- •Chat (Cmd+L) understands your full codebase for contextual Q&A
- •Use @ references to give Cursor specific context about files, docs, or the web
Progress is kept in this browser only.